Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Ha

Some people might say that the Trump administration has become a gift to comedy. Saturday Night Live is experiencing their best ratings in six years. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart has spawned any number of comedy news shows from the "best news team ever." Twitter is ablaze with the kindling falling out of the mouths and generated by the tiny brains who work for the Oompa Loompa King. Even Bruce Springsteen wanted to get into the act. Okay, The Boss didn't really write that letter, in which he took wide swings at liberal types who seem to enjoy the sounds of their own voices so very much including Golden Globes guest speaker, Meryl Streep. But it was enough imagine that being witty must might be the thing that could save us all.
Laughter may be the best medicine, and the fact that no less an authority than former Saturday Night Live writer and performer Al Franken has a ringside seat to the debacle as the junior senator from Michigan watches the "real political drama" take place. Yes my friends, Washington D.C. is a yuks factory. Or is that yuck factory?
Get it? Yuk, as in yuk-yuk and yuck as in icky. This stuff writes itself.
And while we're all twisted into paroxysms of laughter, the ones who aren't twisting into paroxysms of laughter continue to churn out one questionable decision after another. The ones who aren't giggling are the ones "in charge." That's what makes the comedy flow. Poking fun at authority is such a natural fit when it comes to ridiculing those emperors who wander around naked. The arrogance with which these presumptive humans have taken to kicking and slashing at the world we all share makes it all the more satisfying when we can take them down a notch.
I'm sure you've all noticed how the past week of comedy has undone the unfortunate and creepy policies tossed out by the powers that be. No? You mean the circuit judges who knocked down the Muslim travel ban? Have you read the decision? It is comedy gold. Did you see how Al Franken single-handedly blocked the nomination of Betty Devos as Secretary of Education with that killer set that turned giggles into votes against the woman who wanted to know where the pencils were? Wait. That was her comment on the first day of her new job as Secretary of Defense. There was no stopping that train from going through. Republicans have the majority. Democrats, while traditionally much more amusing, are in the minority. While this makes the humor so much easier to mine, the battle is going to be very much uphill. So, while we're waiting for the mid-term elections and/or the impeachment proceedings, we can continue to find the funny where we can. And keeping in mind what we have to do while we're wiping the tears from our eyes. Better that they were tears sprung from laughter, not sadness. Or pain.
Get it?